What’s
the biggest take away from this Nicolas Winding Refn’s new film? Only God Forgives, accented in a red hue
and presenting Ryan Gosling in his most stoic role to date, is as subversive of
expectations as a film could be. While audiences were divided by Drive (with members of the critical
community adoring its stylistic flourishes while others bemoaned that a picture
called Drive featured so little
driving), Only God Forgives seems to
exist to alienate audiences entirely. Brooding, cynical, violent, and
overwhelmingly dire, Only God Forgives may
not be the feel good hit of the summer, but it happens to be the most
viscerally compelling film of the year.

Comparisons
to Drive need to be made in so far as
distinguishing how different Only God
Forgives turns out to be. Whereas Drive
functions as an Earthly concoction, Only
God Forgives is shrouded in a deep surrealist fog. With Drive there was a general sense of what
moments existed as part of the film’s narrative and which scenes existed as a
means of a dreamscape. Only God Forgives’
spatial movement resists conventional editing - every instance of death is
followed by a jarring transition that can rarely be explained. And with death
and suffering essentially providing the red tint that illuminates Only God Forgives, so much of the film’s
surrealist qualities register as a descent into Hell.

Thematically, the film is something of a mix
of oedipal complexes and gender politics. Refn hammers in much of the bizarre
sexual politics through Kristen Scott Thomas’ character – who also happens to
contribute about 90% of the film’s dialogue. The film’s scant plotting doesn’t
mean much to the overall feel of the picture, which is so knee-deep in smut it’s
hard to believe I responded to it positively at all. But critical to Only God Forgives’ success is its
pulsating imagery and subversive gender imagery. It’s particularly interesting
to see it as a treatment of Ryan Gosling’s celebrity. The proverbial heartthrob
sees himself emasculated even as he attempts to flex his own masculinity. The
repeated imagery of Gosling’s open palm forming a fist becomes an important
symbolic event as his character attempts to achieve manhood. And it’s no small
coincidence that his character only lands a blow when slapping his opponent,
not punching. Of course, all my praise of Refn’s style and symbolism means little
if the film didn’t have a kinetic wallop. And while my audience didn’t take too
keenly to the picture (an audible snore was heard during one of the film’s
quieter moments), Only God Forgives never
yielded its feverish hold on me.